Tenth arrest made for teen's death

Prosecutor calls rivalry between 18th Street and MS-13 historic'

The number of suspects arrested in the stabbing death of a Langley Park teen — whose body was found four months ago in Gaithersburg — reached 10 last week after police chased down a 21-year-old from Wheaton.

And Montgomery County Assistant State's Attorney Jeffrey Wennar, one of the county's top gang prosecutors, said that prosecutors will consider whether to ask a grand jury to indict some of the suspects using a new state anti-gang statute based on anti-gang laws found in 35 other states.

The Maryland statute, enacted in 2007, has never been used to prosecute in Montgomery County, according to Wennar, who said earlier this spring that state prosecutors have been waiting for "the right case."

Convictions under the law require that prosecutors prove a defendant is a member of a gang and committed a violent crime to advance the gang's goals or at the gang's direction, the law states.

"We're going to look at the statute, we're going to look at the evidence," said Wennar, noting the additional burden of proof. "We've got to meet the elements of that statute to prosecute under the statute."

The law allows a judge to impose an additional maximum penalty of 20 years for each count of participating in a gang crime, he said. Prosecutors will propose charges within the next few weeks and a grand jury will decide how to indict the 10 suspects, he said.

The 10th arrest in Guzman-Saenz's death came May 13, when Montgomery County Police apprehended Edwin Antonio Lopez at the Glenmont Metro station, where he appeared to be working as a contractor, said Lt. Paul Starks, director of the police department's media division.

Lopez, of the 11700 block of Newport Mill Road in Wheaton, was charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping, according to police.

Seven men and three women have been arrested since May 8 and charged in the stabbing death of Dennys Guzman-Saenz, 15, of 14th Avenue in Langley Park, who police say was abducted from a bus stop Jan. 18, taken to Gaithersburg and stabbed to death after his assailants believed he was in the gang MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha.

His body was found the next morning in Malcolm King Park.

The investigation continues to unfold as suspects give conflicting accounts, but Lopez's arrest closes out the initial batch of people believed to be responsible, according to police.

Federal immigration agents have flagged all 10 suspects with orders that they be held for possible immigration violations, according to Ernistine Fobbs, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Montgomery police say that the suspects are affiliated with or are members of the 18th Street gang, rivals of MS-13. Guzman-Saenz is believed only to have known MS-13 members.

The bloody feud between 18th Street and MS-13 traces to the streets and prisons of Mexico, El Salvador and California, said Assistant State's Attorney Jeffrey Wennar, one of the county's lead gang prosecutors.

"It's a historic rivalry. … There is that ongoing rivalry that merits them attacking each other without provocation," he said in an interview. "… Although they are both under the umbrella of the Mexican Mafia, they are archrivals."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that 18th Street has between 30,000 and 50,000 members active in 44 cities and 20 states nationwide, according to the FBI's 2009 gang threat assessment.

While MS-13 has garnered more local headlines and attention, 18th Street has "been around for a real long time" in Montgomery County, Wennar said.

In addition to the first-degree murder charges, eight of the suspects are also charged with kidnapping; five with kidnapping a child under the age of 16; and four with armed robbery, after allegedly taking $10 that Guzman-Saenz had on him that night.

Those arrested are: Joel Yonathan Ventura-Quintanilla, 22, and David Antonio Lozano, 32, of the 13100 block of Wonderland Way in Germantown. They are charged with first-degree murder.

Ana Abarca, 18, of Reston, Va., and Ysaud Flores, 30, of the 9500 block of Tippett Lane in Montgomery Village, are charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and armed robbery. Joel Antonio Lovo-Reyes, 29, of Bladensburg, is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping.

Daniel A. Zavala, 26, and Silvia Martinez, 19, of Washington, D.C., are charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and kidnapping a child under 16.

Francis E. Artiga-Cardoza, 22, of Manassas, Va., is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and kidnapping a child under the age of 16. And Ana Villatoro, 17, of Washington, D.C., is charged as an adult with first-degree murder, armed robbery, kidnapping and kidnapping a child under the age of 16.